Roof surveys and maintenance in Leatherhead, Surrey and South West London

A Roof Looked atBefore It Leaks.

A general survey looks at the roof from the ground. We go up. A buyer who knows the roof has ten years left, or needs a valley next spring, is negotiating with facts rather than a surveyor’s caveat. Sellers use the same report to answer the question before it is asked.

A homebuyer report will note that the roof was inspected from ground level and recommend a specialist. We are the specialist. A survey before exchange tells you what the roof will cost over the next ten years, and it is the kind of detail that changes a negotiation.

A pre purchase roof survey is usually booked between the survey and exchange, takes an hour or so on site, and the written report with photographs follows within two working days so it can go to your solicitor or be used to renegotiate.

Gutters full of moss and leaves overflow at the first heavy rain, and the water goes down the wall into the brickwork. We clear them, check the falls and the joints, and fit leaf guards where trees make it a yearly job.

Gutters want clearing once a year, and twice where there are trees. We clear the runs and the outlets, flush the downpipes, check the falls and the brackets, and tell you if any of it is past repair.

Gutters on a house with trees nearby want clearing in late autumn once the leaves are down, and again in spring where moss comes off the roof; a house in the open needs it once a year. Blocked gutters are the commonest cause of damp on an external wall.

Moss holds water against the tiles, lifts them in a frost and drops into the gutters. We remove it by hand rather than with a pressure washer, which drives water under the covering and strips the surface off concrete tiles, then treat the slope so it is slower to come back.

Moss grows on the north facing and shaded slopes and on concrete tiles more than clay. We scrape and brush it off by hand from the roof, clear what falls into the gutters, and apply a treatment that slows it coming back. We do not pressure wash roofs, and we will explain why if you have been offered it.

Moss is removed by hand from the roof with the debris cleared from the gutters, and the slopes are treated with a biocide that slows regrowth for two or three years. Pressure washing strips the surface off concrete tiles and forces water under the covering, so we do not do it.

A cracked tile, a slipped slate, a length of ridge that needs pointing, a loose gutter bracket. If it is small we do it on the visit and it goes on the same itemised bill. If it is bigger we photograph it, price it, and let you decide.

Most of what a survey finds is small and cheapest done there and then: a cracked tile, a slipped slate, a loose bracket, a length of ridge that wants pointing. Anything larger is photographed and priced separately so you can decide.

Small repairs on a survey visit are priced at the time and done with your agreement, and they go on the same itemised invoice with the photographs. Anything that needs scaffold or materials we do not carry is quoted separately.

You get the pictures, what they show, what we recommend and in what order. There is no obligation to act on any of it, and a clear note of how long the roof has left.

The report is yours to keep, to give to a buyer or an insurer, or to file until the next inspection. It sets out the condition of the roof, what needs doing now, what can wait, and when we would look again.

The report is plain English, two or three pages with the photographs, and it is accepted by solicitors, insurers and managing agents as a specialist roof inspection. There is no obligation to have any of the work done by us.